Book Review
The Sermon on the Mount--now passing its 65th birthday--remains a vital and provocative introduction to the ideas at the heart of Christian Science. At heart it means to be entirely practical, as the "Science" of the name would indicate. Denying any interest in theology (there is no theology in the Bible, Fox argues), the author instead suggests that what Jesus was after was results: "Jesus explains to us what the nature of God is, and what our own nature is; tells us the meaning of life and of death; shows us why we make mistakes; why we yield to temptation; why we become sick, and impoverished, and old; and, most important of all, he tells us how all these evils may be overcome, and how we may bring health, happiness, and true prosperity into our lives."

And the Spiritual Key? Fox puts it quite simply: "The Truth turns...

Secrets in the Dark: A Life in Sermons Frederick Buechner 0060842482 February 2006 Hardcover ·

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Novelist and Christian writer Buechner (Brendan; The Alphabet of Grace) delivered a number of memorable sermons in more than four decades of service as a Presbyterian minister. This collection contains 37 of them, all featuring the intricate stories, fascinating connections and personal touches that are Buechner's signature. By presenting them chronologically, the evolution of his favorite themes of listening to your dreams, finding your calling and the importance of home are evident. Most touching are the sermons directed at youthful audiences (Buechner was a chaplain at two private boys' schools), such as "The Calling of Voices," in which he pleads with young people to pay attention to the deep gladness in their lives, following it to their life's vocation. For instruction on how to read the...

Book Review
"When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die." With these words, in The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer gave powerful voice to the millions of Christians who believe personal sacrifice is an essential component of faith. Bonhoeffer, a German Lutheran pastor and theologian, was an exemplar of sacrificial faith: he opposed the Nazis from the first and was eventually imprisoned in Buchenwald and hung by the Gestapo in 1945. The Cost of Discipleship, first published in German in 1937, was Bonhoeffer's answer to the questions, "What did Jesus mean to say to us? What is his will for us to-day?" Bonhoeffer's answers are rooted in Lutheran grace and derived from Christian scripture (almost a third of the book consists of an extended meditation on the Sermon on the Mount). The book builds to a stunning conclusion:...

Book Description
“The celebration of Advent is possible only to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, who look forward to something greater to come. For these, it is enough to wait in humble fear until the Holy One himself comes down to us, God in the child in the manger. God comes. The Lord Jesus comes. Christmas comes. Christians rejoice!”—Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Executed by the Nazis for his complicity in a plot to assassinate Hitler, Dietrich Bonhoeffer remains with us today through his writings—far-reaching ripples of deep thought, passionate words, and unflinching character.

Including biographical insights, Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Christmas Sermons spans Bonhoeffer’s seventeen years as a preacher. This collection of vintage sermons and...

Book Description
The phrase "the will of God" is used loosely, says Leslie Weatherhead, and the consequence of that looseness to our peace of mind is serious. Weatherhead's recognition of this problem led him to write The Will of God, a classic that has helped more than a million grieving persons better understand the meaning of the phrase. It can help you as well. It was during the tumultuous era of World War II that Leslie Weatherhead preached five sermons on understanding the will of God for the congregation at City Temple in London. These sermons became the classic book The Will of God, which has helped hundreds of thousands of Christians explore how God's will is related to God's character and ultimate intentions for us. A six-week workbook study is also available that uses three case studies to illustrate the questions that arise...

A Knock at Midnight: Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Clayborne Carson 1594831009 November 2005 Compact Disc ·

Snapshots of Hope Richmond Webster 0819222062 Sept 2005 Paperback ·

Book Description
Snapshots of Hope is a series of reflections on hope, a timely subject in today's world. Written by an excellent storyteller, this collection features stories of ordinary people trying to find hope in the midst of chaos, challenging times, and everyday living. A little girl, a crossing guard at school, gets a spot where no one ever needs help, so she turns her job into one of waving all at the cars and welcoming everyone as they come to school. An old man who stubbornly sits on a rocking chair in his driveway in the midst of a flooded town gives the rest of the town's residents the courage to come home and start cleaning up. Hope, it would seem, is everywhere, even in the most unlikely places. Told in a simple and charming voice, Snapshots of Hope will provide inspirationand a few gigglesfor its...

Book Review Audiobook Reviews
These 11 historic sermons--some complete recordings of entire addresses, others reconstructed from various church services--make plain why Martin Luther King Jr. considered his "first calling and greatest commitment" to be a preacher of the gospel. As an orator he is second to none, drawing his audience in with an urgency that resonates through every soaring cadence of his familiar, powerful voice. Using insights from psychology, philosophy, and the Bible, he appeals to the heads as well as the hearts of his congregations, explaining that personal and social change can only be effected by adopting a morality of love in service of God and humankind. While King's concern for social justice is a common theme throughout, each sermon is a jewel of literary artistry, as it presents a simple problem, examines its...

Book Description
"The Bible is what God has made. Sermons are what we make with what God has made." This is the foundation for developing expository messages, according to Ramesh Richard. His method, explained in Preparing Expository Sermons, has been field-tested in training seminars for thousands of preachers around the world. Richard's book is a simple do-it-yourself resource for developing and preaching expository sermons. It guides the reader through a seven-step process, with many practical suggestions and illustrative charts along the way. In addition, there are eleven appendixes that include information on: -how to choose a text -preaching narratives -understanding your audience -forms of sermon introduction A comprehensive sermon evaluation questionnaire is included as well. Preparing Expository Sermons, an updated and...

God Laughs & Plays: Churchless Sermons in Response to the Preachments of the Fundamentalist Right David James Duncan 0977717003 April 1, 2006 Hardcover
·

Book DescriptionAn immediate Book Sense national bestseller!In God Laughs and Plays, David James Duncan argues that the de facto political party embodied by the so-called "Christian Right" has turned worship into a self-righteous betrayal of the words and example of the very Jesus it claims to praise. In opposition, Duncan offers a thought-provoking collection of "churchless sermons," stories, memoir, and conversations  all united by the contention that the way of life preached and embodied by Jesus is apolitical and should be free of media machinery. While reminding us that the true Christian ethos scorns riches and embraces the poor; blesses peacemakers, not war-makers; and asks us to love and serve neighbors and "do good" even unto enemies, Duncan also goes a step further: he offers a poignant and inspiring...

Weight of Glory C. S. Lewis 0060653205 Apr 2001 Paperback ·

The New York Times Book Review
"Lewis combines a novelist's insights into motives with a profound religious understanding."

Book Description
Selected from sermons delivered by C. S. Lewis during World War II, these nine addresses offer guidance and inspiration in a time of great doubt. These are ardent and lucid sermons that provide a compassionate vision of Christianity.

Midwest Book Review
Following Jesus: Biblical Reflections on Discipleship is a compilation of twelve exhilarating meditations exploring what it truly means to follow Jesus today. N. T. Wright first outlines the essential message of the six major New Testament books (Hebrews, Colossians, Matthew, John, Mark, and Revelation) looking in particular at their portrayal of Jesus and what he accomplished in his sacrificial death. He then takes six key New Testament themes (resurrection, rebirth, temptation, hell, heaven, and new life) and considers their significance for the lives of present-day disciples.

Book Description
"For many Christians the Old Testament is daunting and confusing. The books are long and speak about a culture dramatically different from ours. Mark Devers sermons do not substitute for reading the Old Testament, but they do provide a wonderful help in understanding it. Dever unpacks the major themes of each book with remarkable clarity, and the book also shines in conveying the message of the Old Testament for today. Here is a survey to the Old Testament that is accessible and spiritually edifying." Thomas R. Schreiner Professor of New Testament, Associate Dean of Scripture and Interpretation, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary "To hear the Bible tell its own story in its own waythis is the obvious but all-too-rare strategy for reading the Book of books. I thank Dr. Mark Dever for showing us...

The Seeds of Heaven: Sermons on the Gospel of Matthew Barbara Brown Brown Taylor 0664228860 October 2004 Paperback ·

Book Description
This wonderful collection of sermons by renowned preacher, author, and speaker Barbara Brown Taylor is based on the Gospel of Matthew. Each of the fifteen sermons, three of them appearing here for the first time in print, is based on a reading from Matthew, including Exceeding Righteousness (Matthew 5:17-20), The Problem with Miracles (14:13-21), Family Fights (18:15-20), Once More from the Heart (18:21-35), Beginning at the End (20:1-16), and On the Clouds of Heaven (24:29-44).

About the Author
Barbara Brown Taylor is an Episcopal priest, a popular speaker and workshop leader, and one of the "twelve most effective preachers in the English language," according to Baylor University and reported by Newsweek. She is currently Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Piedmont...

The Minister's Manual James William Cox 0787979228 July 2005 Hardcover ·

Review
"I don’t know of a better book for the hard-pressed minister . . . than The Minister’s Manual . . . . The best material on the market." – John Killinger, president, Mission for Biblical Literacy; author, Preaching the New Millennium

"Want one book to help you with preaching? Try The Minister’s Manual. The calendar and lectionary text information would be helpful enough–but this is only the tip of a wonderful iceberg." – Roger Lovette, minister, the Baptist Church of the Covenant, Birmingham, Alabama

Book Description
Religion and politics have always been a potent mix. History is littered with times when that combination caused sweeping death and destruction, when it fueled aggression and oppressionand when it gave fascism a religious and diplomatic face. Reverend Davidson Loehr is afraid that we may be living in such a time in America today. On the Sunday following the election on November 2, 2004, Loehr, a liberal minister in Texas, delivered a sermon titled "Living Under Fascism"a sermon that spread like wildfire through the Internet. "I mean to persuade you that the style of governing into which America has slid is most accurately described as fascism, and that the necessary implications of this fact are rightly regarded as terrifying," the preacher told his congregation. ". . . and even if I dont persuade...

Book Description
No one has ever accused author Wayne McLaughlin of being boring in the pulpit. Too liberal maybe, too Biblical maybe, but not boring. Waynes parishioners say they come to church with anticipation of what he will say each Sunday. They almost always leave worship enlightened, inspired, challenged, or disturbed, but never bored. Whatever! contains sermons that sparkle with insight and crackle like kindling in the fireplace. Some of them sootheothers provoke. The author grew up with a fundamentalist theology and began his pastoral ministry as a Southern Baptist. But as he continued his Biblical and theological studies, his understanding of his Christian faith began to change. In 1978 McLaughlin transferred his ordination into the Presbyterian Church. Pastor McLaughlin has won awards in national...

The Sermon on the Mount: A Radical Way of Being God's People Gladys M. Hunt 0877883165 March 2000 Paperback ·

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount David Martyn Lloyd-Jones 080280036X April 1984 Paperback
·

Living in God's Love Billy Graham 0399153462 Aug 2005 Hardcover ·

Book Description
Billy Graham's now legendary first New York Crusade in 1957 was a touchstone that affected an entire generation. Nearly fifty years later, the Reverend Billy Graham returned to New York in June 2005 for what was likely his final Crusade, preaching the power of God's love to hundreds of thousands of people over three life-changing evenings.

Living in God's Love contains all three sermons from this important event, and includes an original introduction and an afterword both written by Billy Graham specifically for this book. Living in God's Love also features black-and-white photographs from the 2005 New York Crusade, and a moving foreword by his daughter Anne Graham Lotz.

Billy Graham's message of the transforming power of Christ's love is one that is needed now more than ever.